死亡约会 Part II Chapter 15（1）

 

Chapter 15

‘My preparations are complete,’ said Hercule Poirot.

With a little sigh he stepped back a pace or two and contemplated¹ his arrangement of one of theunoccupied hotel bedrooms.

Colonel Carbury, leaning inelegantly against the bed which had been pushed against the wall,smiled as he puffed² at his pipe. ‘Funny feller, aren’t you, Poirot?’ he said. ‘Like to dramatizethings.’

‘Perhaps—that is true,’ admitted the little detective. ‘But indeed it is not all self-indulgence. Ifone plays a comedy, one must first set the scene.’

‘Is this a comedy?’

‘Even if it is a tragedy—there, too, the décor must be correct.’

Colonel Carbury looked at him curiously³.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘it’s up to you! I don’t know what you’re driving at. I gather, though, thatyou’ve got something.’

‘I shall have the honour to present to you what you asked me for—the truth!’

‘Do you think we can get a conviction?’

‘That, my friend, I did not promise you.’

‘True enough. Maybe I’m glad you haven’t. It depends.’

‘My arguments are mainly psychological,’ said Poirot.

Colonel Carbury sighed. ‘I was afraid they might be.’

‘But they will convince you,’ Poirot reassured⁵ him. ‘Oh, yes, they will convince you. The truth,I have always thought, is curious and beautiful.’

‘Sometimes,’ said Colonel Carbury, ‘it’s damned unpleasant.’

‘No, no.’ Poirot was earnest. ‘You take there the personal view. Take instead the abstract, thedetached point of vision. Then the absolute logic⁴ of events is fascinating and orderly.’

‘I’ll try to look on it that way,’ said the Colonel.

Poirot glanced at his watch, a large grotesque⁶ turnip⁷ of a watch.

‘But yes, indeed, it belonged to my grandfather.’

‘Thought it might have done.’

‘It is time to commence our proceedings,’ said Poirot. ‘You, mon Colonel, will sit here behindthis table in an official position.’

‘Oh, all right,’ Carbury grunted⁸. ‘You don’t want me to put my uniform on, do you?’

‘No, no. If you would permit that I straightened your tie.’ He suited the action to the word.

Colonel Carbury grinned again, sat down in the chair indicated and a moment later, unconsciously,tweaked his tie round under his left ear again.

‘Here,’ continued Poirot, slightly altering the position of the chairs, ‘we place la familleBoynton.

‘And over here,’ he went on, ‘we will place the three outsiders who have a definite stake in thecase. Dr Gerard, on whose evidence the case for the prosecution⁹ depends. Miss Sarah King, whohas two separate interests in the case, a personal one, and that of medical examiner. Also MrJefferson Cope, who was on intimate terms with the Boyntons and so may be definitely describedas an interested party.’

He broke off. ‘Aha—here they come.’

He opened the door to admit the party.

Lennox Boynton and his wife came in first. Raymond and Carol followed. Ginevra walked byherself, a faint, faraway smile on her lips. Dr Gerard and Sarah King brought up the rear. MrJefferson Cope was a few minutes late and came in with an apology.

When he had taken his place Poirot stepped forward.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said, ‘this is an entirely¹⁰ informal gathering¹¹. It has come aboutthrough the accident of my presence in Amman. Colonel Carbury did me the honour to consult me—’

Poirot was interrupted. The interruption came from what was seemingly the most unlikelyquarter. Lennox Boynton said suddenly and pugnaciously¹²:

‘Why? Why the devil should he bring you into this business?’

Poirot waved a hand gracefully¹³.

‘Me, I am often called in in cases of sudden death.’

Lennox Boynton said: ‘Doctors send for you whenever there is a case of heart failure?’

Poirot said gently: ‘Heart failure is such a very loose and unscientific term.’

Colonel Carbury cleared his throat. It was an official noise. He spoke¹⁴ in an official tone.

‘Best to make it quite clear. Circumstance of death reported to me. Very natural occurrence.

Weather unusually hot—journey a very trying one for an elderly lady in bad health. So far allquite clear. But Dr Gerard came to me and volunteered a statement—’

He looked inquiringly at Poirot. Poirot nodded.

‘Dr Gerard is a very eminent¹⁵ physician with a worldwide reputation. Any statement he makes isbound to be received with attention. Dr Gerard’s statement was as follows. On the morning afterMrs Boynton’s death he noted¹⁶ that a certain quantity of a powerful drug acting¹⁷ on the heart wasmissing from his medical supplies. On the previous afternoon he had noticed the disappearance¹⁸ ofa hypodermic syringe. Syringe was returned during the night. Final point—there was a punctureon the dead woman’s wrist corresponding to the mark of a hypodermic syringe.’

Colonel Carbury paused.

‘In these circumstances I considered that it was the duty of those in authority to inquire into thematter. M. Hercule Poirot was my guest and very considerately offered his highly specializedservices. I gave him full authority to make any investigations¹⁹ he pleased. We are assembled herenow to hear his report on the matter.’

There was silence—a silence so acute that you could have heard—as the saying is—a pin drop.

Actually someone did drop what was probably a shoe in the next room. It sounded like a bomb inthe hushed atmosphere.

 

1 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

2 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

7 turnip   

n.萝卜，芜菁

参考例句：

• The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
• A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。

8 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 pugnaciously   

参考例句：

13 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

18 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

19 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。